Storyline

New York, 1959. Max Bialystock was once the king of Broadway, but now all his shows close on opening night. Things turn around when he's visited by the neurotic accountant Leo Bloom, who proposes a scheme tailor-made for producers who can only make flops: raise far more money than you need, then make sure the show is despised. No one will be interested in it, so you can pocket the surplus. To this end, they produce a musical called Springtime for Hitler written by escaped Nazi Franz Liebken. Then they get the insanely flamboyant Roger De Bris to direct. Finally, they hire as a lead actress the loopy Swedish bombshell Ulla (whose last name has over 15 syllables). As opening night draws near, what can go wrong? Well, there's no accounting for taste... Written by
rmlohner

Technical Specs

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Three songs from the Broadway show were cut: "King of Broadway," "In Old Bavaria" and "Where Did We Go Right?". The second act reprise of "Opening Night" was also cut, as were sections of "Along Came Bialy". Despite "Where Did We Go Right?" being cut, the reference to this song in the recap in "Betrayed" remains. See more »

Goofs

The gun Franz is shooting appears to be a Luger, a very popular German pistol in the first half of the 1900s. The Luger was only originally designed to hold eight rounds, but can hold nine with one in the chamber. The Luger is also emptied, not jammed. See more »

User Reviews

After reading critics' reviews I thought twice about seeing this film. But I needn't have worried as this was fantastic entertainment. I don't seem to care that the director has kept the stagy sets and took a literal approach to adapting a stage musical for the big screen. It was a fun time from beginning to end.

While his portrayal of Leo Bloom was too much like Gene Wilder's, Matthew Broderick was simply divine when dancing. Indeed it was an interesting to see the top half of his body so still and rigid while his legs and feet were moving with such poise and grace. Nathan Lane never seems to disappoint, he is simply brilliant. His physical resemblance to Zero Mostel is obvious but the mannerisms are all his own. Uma Thurman is good as Ula and Will Ferrell rediscovers his funny.

I didn't even mind the over-the-stop stereotypes. Gary Beach and Roger Bart are screamingly funny. Springtime for Hitler is the best part of the show and nice to see John Barrowman giving it his all as the blond Nazi.

If you want to be entertained for a few hours then this is the movie to go see, don't let the critics put you off!

51 of 79 people found this review helpful.
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